NHL Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals

The two top teams in the Metropolitan Division are going to be squaring off on Wednesday night in NHL betting action, as the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Washington Capitals.

The Penguins only have 13 wins this year, and the fact that they are on a pace for 101 points this year is a big disappointment. Another interesting tidbit about Pittsburgh is that it has only played in one overtime game this year, that coming against the Vancouver Canucks a month ago to the day. C Sidney Crosby has only scored two goals in his last 11 games, but he did tally against the Anaheim Ducks in the team’s most recent game on Monday night. The offense has struggled with Crosby not scoring, knowing that it has averaged just 2.27 goals per game in this stretch of 11 games, scoring more than three goals just twice. The rest of the offense hasn’t managed to pick up the slack, and that’s bad news knowing that Crosby has spent a good chunk of the last few seasons injured in some respect. If Sid the Kid isn’t on the ice and playing effectively, this is proving to be a team that is nothing more than pretty good, but not fantastic.

The Capitals have won three straight games, the last two of which have come as underdogs on the NHL betting lines. This is going to be another one of these games in which they are going to be pups, and they are going to have to rise to the occasion once again to get the points. Whereas Crosby has been struggling, the man that was essentially his sworn enemy from the start of his career, LW Alexander Ovechkin has been on fire of late. Ovie has clearly been the second best of these two in his entire career, as he has never even been to the Stanley Cup Finals, let alone hoisting a Cup. However, the Russian has been a star this year, scoring 17 goals with seven assists. He has four goals in his last three games, and there is a good chance that he could be one of the MVP candidates if this keeps up. Washington has scored 11 goals in its last three games, and it has found a way to win a lot of close encounters, something that the Penguins haven’t been able to do.

This is a big game for the Caps to get to the head of the class in the Metropolitan Division. Behind another great game from Ovechkin, he and his Capitals will win this one and send a real message to Pittsburgh that this series this season is going to be for real.

Adam Markowitz

is a staff writer living in the Orlando area. He has covered NFL, MLB, college football, CFL, AFL, NBA, college basketball, NASCAR, golf, tennis, and the NHL for a number of various outlets in his career, and he has been published by a number of different media outlets, including the Orlando Sentinel and the Wall Street Journal.